Christmas Is Coming
Template:Short description Template:For Template:More citations needed "Christmas Is Coming" is a traditional nursery rhyme and Christmas song frequently sung as a round. It is listed as number 12817 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Lyrics
The following are common representative lyrics:
- Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
- Please [do] put a penny in the old man's hat
- If you haven't got a penny, [then] a ha'penny will do
- If you haven't got a ha'penny, [then] God bless you!
Although the lyrics begin appearing in print in 1885<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and 1886,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> they are presented without an author and in a way of cataloging something that was already mostly common knowledge of the time. Some sources have variants of these lyrics and additional verses. <ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Music
The common melody paired with the lyrics is usually simply listed as a traditional English carol, while some sources curiously list the author Edith Nesbit Bland as its composer.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> <score>
\layout {
\context {
\Score
\omit BarNumber
}
}\relative
{
\key c \major
\time 4/4
c'4 c8 d e4 c8 c
e8 d e f g4 r4 \break
c8 g g g g a g f
e4 d c g'8 g \break
e8 g g g e g g g
c, c' b a g4 g8 g \break
e g g g e g g g
a4 b c r4
}
\addlyrics {
Christ -- mas is com -- ing, the goose is get -- ting fat;
Please [do] put a pen -- ny in the old man's hat.
If you have -- n't got a pen -- ny, [then] a ha' -- pen -- ny will do.
If you have -- n't got a ha' -- pen -- ny, [then] God bless you!
}
</score>
Another common melody, usually listed as a traditional English carol, is differentiated by an arrangement of it made by Walford Davies, published in 1914.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Traditional collected versions
A few field recordings were made of traditional versions of the song,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> including one sung by Jack Elliot of Birtley, Durham to Reg Hall in the early 1960s,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which is archived within the British Library Sound Archive.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Popular recordings
The Kingston Trio recorded the song as "A Round About Christmas", on their album The Last Month of the Year released in 1960.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A calypso sounding version was featured on the 1979 album John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a loose, jazzy piano-based arrangement was featured in the musical score of A Charlie Brown Christmas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The rhyme also became the basis for the song "Christmas Is a-Comin'", written by Frank Luther and performed by Bing Crosby, among others.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>